Interpol Contacted over Polish Priest in Paedophilia Case

The News
September 27, 2013

http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/148375,INTERPOL-contacted-over-Polish-priest-in-paedophilia-case

Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito contacted the intergovernmental organisation after a panel of judges in the Dominican Republic declared Father Wojciech Gil a “fugitive” for failing to return to the country to face charges. Father Gil, who led a parish in the highland town of Juncalito for close to a decade, had taken children on holiday to Poland earlier this year. However, when allegations emerged of crimes against minors in recent years, he chose not to return to his post on the Caribbean island. “We are going to resort to all the necessary judicial resources, both locally and abroad, so this case doesn’t go unpunished,” Francisco Dominguez Brito declared in a statement. It is understood that Father Gil is currently residing in his family village south of Krakow. Earlier this week, Poland's attorney general Andrzej Seremet confirmed that his office was looking into the matter, and that if sufficient evidence was presented, a separate investigation could be launched by Polish authorities. He has not commented yet on any prospective extradition procedure. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic is also seeking to try Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, former papal nuncio in the Caribbean country, and reportedly a friend of Father Gil. He was recalled by the Vatican on 21 August and simultaneously suspended as nuncio. The archbishop's precise whereabouts are currently unknown. However, the Vatican has pledged that it will cooperate with Domincan authorities. “The recall of the ambassador is by no means an effort to avoid taking responsibility for what might possibly be verified,” assured Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardy on 12 September. The charges against Archbishop Wesolowski make him the highest ranking Vatican official to be investigated concerning allegations of paedophilia. (nh)